The Burning Church
by tii-chan17
Summary: Matt conveniently voiced all of Mello's confusion in one sentence, "…I could've sworn I died just now." Matt and Mello, given an unexpected second chance at life, decide to spend it being normal. Like that'll ever work.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I finally finished this...stayed up ridiculously late to write the last chapter and proof-read the enitre fic, so I really hope it's good. Even if it's not very long...  
**

**I absolutely adore M/M, so I just had to write a fic for them! This is dedicated to Rainbow Fruit Loop, cause she's cool and got me hooked on these two. Love ya! x  
**

**This story's a bit bipolar. Meaning there're some chapters with crack and then some with depressing angst (although, I'm not very good with depressing stuff, so...not so depressing angst?). And then you get all that in ONE chapter! Then again, my take on Mello's a bit bipolar, so s'all good!  
**

**Warnings for the fic: yaoi (duh), language, mild innuendo (if you can find them), some violence, some gore (not much. I'm squeamish) and much, much British speak! I'm English and so are Mello and Matt, so yeah. Just tell me if you don't understand something, you non-Brit peoples out there! (Or even some of the Brits. I have a bad habit of making up words and thinking they're real)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, or Mello, or Matt, or Near. Just imagine what'd happen if I did... *creepy creepy smile***

* * *

Chapter 1

Mello blinked.

He was sitting in his apartment, opposite Matt, with a half-eaten chocolate bar in front of him. Nothing strange about that.

Except there was.

Matt conveniently voiced all of Mello's confusion in one sentence, "…I could've sworn I died just now."

Mello said nothing, only frowning as he remembered that Matt had indeed died, through his, Mello's, fault. And then the blond had died straight after as well, everything going according to his plan, so as to allow Kira to finally be defeated.

"Mels? Are you alright?" Matt asked, concerned.

Mello jolted out of his reverie, setting his mind to the task of figuring out exactly how in all of Hell they were here. Unless, of course, 'here' _was _Hell.

Thinking out loud, he said, "I clearly remember dying. Every detail, and none of it's blurry as it is when you try to remember a dream."

Matt looked at him. "You died too?"

"Yep."

"How?"

"Heart attack."

Matt was silent.

"So anyway, we weren't dreaming. I died, and then immediately…well, I don't want to say 'appeared'. That would make it sound like it was something physical. I didn't 'wake up', either. It was more like…"

"Just being here?" Matt suggested.

"Yeah, I was just here. Is it the same day as it was when we were last here, getting ready to kidnap Takada Kiyomi? Have we gone back in time or something?" Mello asked, answering himself by jumping up and grabbing a newspaper that was halfway shoved through the letterbox. "Nope. It's the 30th of January. Four days after we died. And even if we didn't actually die, that ain't long enough for any hospital to fix the injuries we remember. So we didn't get carted off to hospital and get amnesia."

"If we had amnesia, surely we wouldn't remember getting the injuries in the first place," Matt stated, lifting his goggles up off his eyes and rubbing them tiredly.

"More reason to believe that we actually did die and that this is the work of some supernatural bastard," Mello spat.

"What makes you think it was a conscious being? Maybe it just happened," Matt reasoned, forever the one to be all for letting sleeping lions lie.

"Things don't 'just happen', Matt! Surely working on the Kira case taught you that much?" Mello exclaimed, exasperated.

"Well, can't we just let them be for now? You can try to figure out the answers to life, the universe and everything tomorrow, but right now I'm dog tired and I want to sleep and I keep on thinking I'm supposed to have a heap of bullet wounds and when I remember I don't, it just gives me a headache!"

Mello looked at him gently. "Okay. Fine, we'll do that. You're right, I'm being too active. But are you sure you want to sleep now? It looks like it's mid-morning and you'll get the paranormal version of jet lag if you start sleeping the day away," Mello warned him, trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit. Matt looked like he was going to snap from weeks of pent-up stress.

Matt looked at the clock and groaned. "You're kidding! I wanna sleep…but yeah, you're right. I don't want to feel like crap for the rest of the week."

Mello smiled, and picked up the paper to flick through it, purely from habit. "Good. We'll take it easy for today, and then we can—" He froze.

"Mels? Mello? What's wrong?" Matt queried anxiously, standing up and going to crouch in front of where his friend sat, staring at an article in the newspaper. "Mello? What is it?"

Mello sighed and handed him the paper. "Looks like our plan might have worked," he said softly.

Matt read the article avidly.

**Mysterious Halt in the Kira Killings**

**Ever since late in the night of January 28****th****, 2010, there has been an abrupt halt in the Kira killings. Although this is not unheard of, some speculate that Kira may have finally been brought down. Following that, many people believe the elusive detective L is behind this. The last deaths caused by Kira were on the 26****th**** of January, when television star Takada Kiyomi was found dead in a razed building, along with an unidentified male. The analysts reported that Miss Takada set fire to the building before committing suicide. However, police specialists say this correlates to certain other Kira strikes, where the victims did not perish from heart attacks. Miss Takada had not before shown any signs of being suicidal, and even so, there would have been no reason for her to set the building on fire.**

**The yet-to-be-identified body found with Miss Takada's seems to be that of a young man, in his late teens or early twenties. Reports state his cause of death has been proven to be cardiac arrest, though the corpse was heavily burned and beyond recognition when the police found it. The man was healthy, and would not normally have suffered a heart attack of such gravity. This proves Kira's involvement, and makes it all the more surprising that there has not been an increase in the amount of deaths in the past few days.**

**Despite this, the jury remains out on whether Kira is vanquished or not. "It seems that only time will tell," says Detective Inspector Kimoya, the leader of the Kira Investigation in the Japanese Police Force, "If there have been no suspicious deaths in two months from now, Kira will be officially proclaimed either dead, imprisoned or retired."**

Matt looked up slowly, seeing Mello scowling at the floor and picking at his gloves, in the way he only did when he was troubled.

"What's up, Mels? The plan worked. Kira's been defeated," Matt said, sitting down beside his friend and putting the newspaper back on the table.

"That's not definite. Obviously no one apart from the SPK and the second L's team know the full facts. Including us. Kira could just be lying low for a bit. For all we know, he could have escaped and gone into hiding somewhere, waiting for the perfect time to strike," Mello obsessed, his brow crumpling into a worried furrow.

"Well, there's an easy way to see whether that's true or not!" Matt jumped up and grabbed his laptop, typing furiously.

"Matt, what are you doing?" Mello asked wearily, pushing his hair back from his face.

"Phoning Near."

"What? Are you nuts? He thinks we're dead!" Mello yelled, trying and failing to snatch the computer away from the redhead.

"Maybe we are dead. Who cares, Mello, it hardly affects us now."

"How does it not affect us?" Mello screeched, getting overly-frustrated.

"Ssh, quiet Mels, the connection's just clicked," Matt hushed him, waving him over to sit next to him. "The camera's on, so he knows it's actually us, and not some random person hacking into his system," he explained.

"Great…" Mello muttered, looking thunderous.

Suddenly, there was a short burst of static from Matt's laptop, and then Near's face appeared, surprisingly alone, rather than accompanied by Halle, Gevanni and Rester.

"Hey Near! Long time no see!" Matt waved idiotically.

Mello just shifted further out of the camera's view, so the sheep couldn't see him.

"M-Matt?" Near stuttered, looking stunned, which was a large achievement for him.

"The one and only," Matt confirmed.

"How…how did Matt escape?" Near asked incredulously. "I was one hundred percent certain he was dead."

"So was I. We dunno what happened, but somehow we're here again, like we never left. Weird, huh?"

"We?" Near asked, raising a pale eyebrow.

"Yeah! Hey, come on, Mels, get over here!" Matt grabbed Mello and dragged him into the camera's field of vision. "See? Mello's here too."

Near blinked. "I don't understand," he said honestly.

"Neither do we, yet. But give it time!" Matt grinned, cheerful and somewhat exhilarated as a consequence of the belated relief that had set in on him.

Near gave up. "Why are Mello and Matt contacting me? I am almost certain it is not to socialise or inform me of their living status."

"Too right it isn't, Sheepy." Mello decided to make a contribution to the conversation. "What happened? Where's Kira?"

"Kira is deceased, as of January the twenty-eighth," Near stated calmly.

Mello huffed and almost inaudible sigh of relief. "Right. Are you going to tell the public?"

"No. I see no need, they will figure it out for themselves soon enough."

"Okay. Well, that's all we needed to know, bye!" Mello tried to terminate the connection, but Matt grabbed his wrist before he could click the 'End Call' button.

"Hang on a sec, Mels. I'm sure Near would like to know what happened. As to how we're here and all. Right, Near?"

"That would be most helpful," Near agreed.

"Too bad, he can live with it. I want to sleep," Mello argued.

Matt laughed. "Oh, so you think sleep's a good idea _now_, huh? Fine, fine. Near, we'll meet you in person some other time, okay? Call to confirm dates or whatever."

"Very well." Near's face blurred, before the screen went black.

Mello glared at Matt for a good minute. "I hate you," he declared eventually.

Matt feigned hurt. "What? What have I done now?"

"You know I hate contacting Near! That was bad enough, but oh no, you just had to say we'll meet him in fucking person! There's no way I'm doing that!" Mello shouted, heaving himself off the sofa and making to leave the room in a huff.

Matt grasped his hand, surprising Mello to a stop. "Don't go, Mels," he pleaded quietly, his fingers twining their way through the blond's and pressing their palms together. "Please don't."

Mello looked at him, shocked and worried. Matt didn't often get clingy, and when he did, there was usually a good reason. Like the day he figured out 'Mello's Master Plan to End Kira' involved the ex-Mafioso dying a horrible death. He hadn't let go of the blond for three hours.

Sighing, Mello sat down again, keeping his hand intertwined with his friend's. "What is it, Matty?" he asked gently, reaching out to take the redhead's other hand and run his thumb over its back.

Matt bit his lip. "I don't want you to leave me again. It's just…I knew you were going to die, if the plan went okay, but I planned to get myself killed before that, so I wouldn't have to go through the pai—" Matt broke off as Mello crushed his hands violently in his own.

"You did _what_?" Mello growled, absolutely livid.

Matt was stubbornly silent until Mello tightened his grip. He let out a yelp. "Ow! You didn't expect me to just live without you, right?" he cried, trying to pull his hands out of Mello's grasp.

Mello held on. "Of course I did! You _promised _you wouldn't do anything stupid on purpose; you gave me your _word_!" he screamed furiously, shaking from the potency of his anger.

Matt cringed away. "I know I did, don't make me feel worse than I already do! But you broke your word too: you promised you'd stay with me forever in Wammy's, and then you up and fucking _left_! You left me behind, and it took me _three bloody years _to find you again!"

Mello winced, his anger diminishing slightly. "I'm sorry about that, Matt, I really am. We've been through this before. But did you really think that me leaving you was reason enough for you to fucking _kill yourself _in revenge?" Mello was disbelieving.

"It wasn't revenge!" Matt denied, "I wouldn't have been able to handle you not being there! You're the most important person in the world to me, Mello, I wouldn't have been able to cope!"

"So you thought you'd just conveniently die and leave _me_ to cope with it all, even if it wasn't for very long?" Mello spat venomously, shoving his face right into Matt's. "You thought that I'd be _able_ to cope? And not only cope with the fact that you were dead, but the fact that it was _my fault_?"

Matt's eyes widened. "You…you blamed yourself?"

"Obviously." Mello abruptly let go of Matt's hands and pulled back sharply.

"It wasn't your fault!" Matt cried, desperate.

Mello scoffed. "I know that _now_! Do you have any idea how much it hurt at the time, Matt? That pain you avoided so much? That pain _doubled_, even?" He clenched his fists.

"I'm sorry," Matt whispered hoarsely, tears finally streaming down his face, "Oh God, Mello, I'm so sorry…"

Mello's expression immediately softened, and he hesitantly brought his hand up to wipe away his friend's tears. "I'm sorry too, Matty. I shouldn't have yelled like that, I just…"

Matt wound his arms around the blond's waist and drew him close, burrowing his face into Mello's chest. He didn't cry long, but Mello stroked his back soothingly the entire time.

"I love you," Matt said thickly, after the tears were long gone, but his eyes were still swollen.

Mello stiffened in shock, and he pulled back to look at Matt incredulously, his arms still looped gently around the redhead's middle.

"Matty?" he whispered, not daring to believe it.

Matt's mouth curved into a rather watery smile, and he continued, "You're my best friend ever, Mello, I love you more than I could love any brother. I wouldn't be able to live without you. I really, really love you." He buried his head in the crook of Mello's neck again. "I didn't get to tell you that before we left, and…I regretted it. A lot."

Mello was still, sadness, happiness, disappointment and leftover shock warring in his mind. He shook them all off and simply settled with a tender smile. "I love you too, Matt," he said.

But he knew the words would always mean something different for him than for Matt.

* * *

_A church is burning._

_The flames rise higher._

_Like hands that are praying,_

_Aglow in the sky._

_Like hands that are praying,_

_The fire is saying,_

"_You can burn down my churches,_

_But I shall be free."_

* * *

**A/N: So there you have it. And no, I didn't have to look up swearwords on Google for the Alphabet Insult Game...(much)  
**

**The song is an ANCIENT one by Simon and Garfunkel that I thought kinda fitted Mello's...uh...iunno the word. I'm tired. Well, it could be about Matt, like Matt's Mello's sacred thingy (his church) and then Matt died, but he still has Matt... *confuses herself*  
**

**OR, it could be Mello saying "Screw you, go burn in Hell!" to the Catholic Church's belief that homosexual activity shouldn't be condoned. Think what you want, but no flaming saying I'm dissing Catholics with that last comment. I AM Catholic.**

**I'll update this fic every Saturday, as normal! (Even if this is...Wednesday? Yes, Bleach came out today. That's how I keep track of the days) **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Um...I know I said this would be updated on Saturday, but I was sick. Uh...really, really sorry. FORGIVE MOI!  
**

**Yeah. I'm not really better yet (worse, actually) but I managed to find my painkillers, so ALL SHALL BE GOOD! And here's your update. Sorry again. *worried face*  
**

**I can't remember exactly what happens in this chapter. *checks* Oh yeah! Much swearing. And Mello and Matt being weird. Have fun! Actually, pretty much NOTHING happens in this chapter. It's more insight. Kinda important though, so I hope you don't get bored! I tried to put humour in...?  
**

**Anyways, acknowledgements! (I really hate that word.)  
**

**Thank you v. v. much to:  
**

**DeathNoteLuvr16  
**

**Rainbow Fruit Loop  
**

**MyBeautifulBlackHeart  
**

**DarkAngelJudas  
**

**Denueve  
**

**DoubleEdgedSword99  
**

**Kinetsu  
**

**and clairebuhaxd! You have no idea how much your support means to me! *gets all teary eyed*  
**

**Please review everyone! I'll love you forever! Muchly!**

**Disclaimer: Matt, Mello and Death Note are not property of me. Much as I wish the oppsite to be true. :(**

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Chapter 2

Groaning lightly, Mello blearily forced his eyes open. They felt disgusting and gritty, like he'd been power-sleeping for only a few hours.

He glanced at the clock. Apparently, he had. It was nearing eleven pm, and the world was decidedly dark outside.

Mello shifted slightly, causing him to notice the lack of feeling in his left arm. Confused, he looked over to see what had produced it.

Okay. No panicking, now.

There was _not_ a sleeping-cute-bloody-fucking-_gorgeous_ redhead lying next to him. Nope, definitely not.

Unfortunately, though, Mello _was_ lying on a sofa, and had a crick in his neck. A really bad one. And, of course, the dead arm, which turned out to have a mysterious, non-Goggled-Redhead-related cause.

No, Matt wasn't crushing his arm between his spine and the less-than-comfy sofa cushion. Not at all.

But it still bloody hurt. Or not, because it was numb, but Mello knew it _would_ hurt when he eventually got the blood flowing again, and really, that was more painful than the actual…pain.

Yeah, he wasn't awake yet, obviously.

Gingerly, Mello slipped a hand under Matt's shoulder in order to raise him slightly and drag his late arm out from under him without waking the sleeping ginger.

Like his other plans, this one failed slightly.

"Mello…?" Matt whisper-groaned hoarsely.

Said blond swallowed. That wasn't a hot voice, no it wasn't…

"Mm…whatcha doin'?" the redhead mumbled.

Mello gave up. Okay, yeah, it was hot. Very hot.

"Trying to get the feeling back in my arm," Mello said, trying desperately not to let his voice crack. Again, it failed. Hopefully he could blame it on sleep, though.

Matt blinked vacantly. Mello waited patiently for him to catch on.

"Oh!" Matt sat up hurriedly, though not actually very fast, due to his half-alive state. "Sorry."

"No problem," Mello lied, rubbing his arm and wincing. Yup, that hurt. Like a bitch.

"Why are we even on the couch, anyway?"" Matt asked, lifting his goggle to rub sleep out of his eyes.

"Don't you remember? I was going to hit the sack but you wouldn't let me go. And then you refused to relocate to the bedroom. To sleep," Mello added hurriedly, though only he would probably get the alternate meaning to his words.

"Oh yeah. Sorry again," Matt apologized for the second time.

"I told you, it's no problem."

"What time is it? Don't tell me we slept an entire day."

"We didn't sleep an entire day."

"We did, didn't we?"

"Pretty much, yeah. But it's still the same day." As if that would make it any less weird.

"What time?" Matt stared at the clock before answering his own question, "Geez, ten already? We slept for nearly twelve hours!"

"Uh, Matt, the clock says eleven," Mello pointed out, slightly pissing himself laughing inside.

"…I'm not awake yet!"

"No shit. What time shall we see Sheep tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Someone's in a hurry," Matt teased, poking his friend in the shoulder.

"Like hell. I just wanna get it over with as quickly as possible. That alright with you?" Mello asked acidly, though it was all in play.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. How about two?"

"In the morning?"

"Yes, Mello, in the morning. How did you get second place in Wammy's again?"

"Dipshit."

"Dumbass."

"Dickhead."

"Douchebag."

"Dégénéré."

"Mello, we said foreign words were banned for the Alphabet Insult Game," Matt reminded him.

"Yeah, but that wasn't the Alphabet Insult Game. That's when we go A, B, C, etcetera. That one we were just doing D. Why D?" Mello wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"Because that's the one with the most insults that don't sound the same?" Matt tried.

"Yeah, probably. Anyway: asshole."

"Bastard."

"Cunt."

"Dickhead."

"That was my one!" Mello protested.

Matt ignored him. "Different game, we start over. Your turn."

"Uh…egghead."

Matt snorted. "What?"

"There isn't one for E in the English language! Your turn!"

"Fine, fine…gay fuck."

"Matt, since when does G come after E in the alphabet?" Mello raised an eyebrow.

"Uh…since now?"

"You are officially an Alphabet Retard. Join the club."

"There's an Alphabet Retard Club?" Matt looked excited.

Mello looked worried. "Uh…sure."

"Awesome!"

There was an awkward silence.

"Homo," Matt started again.

"Why do you keep on calling me gay?" Mello asked, trying to look huffy rather than nervous.

Matt looked at him. "How many other rude names can you think of beginning with H?"

Mello thought. "None," he answered.

"That's what I thought."

"Anyway, let's stop now. It's getting boring." Mello got up and fetched a chocolate bar from his massive hoard in the cupboard.

Matt stayed quiet.

Mello sighed. He knew why his friend kept on trying to distract him, and really, it was working (not that he'd admit it). But they had to talk about it sometime.

"How do you think we're still here, Matt?" he said, sitting down again next to his best friend.

Matt groaned loudly, slumping in his seat. "Really, Mello? Can't we just let it go? It's not like it matters!"

"Of course it matters!"

Matt bit his lip. "I'm just worried that…look, it's stupid, never mind. Carry on."

"What are you worried about, Matty?" Mello asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Matt sighed. "Nothing. It's just…I keep on getting this feeling that if we look too closely at why we're here, and start to dissect every minute fact, we'll find out that we're not really here. And then I'll wake up in Hell or wherever, and you won't be there..." he admitted, his voice getting quieter and quieter as he trailed to a stop.

Mello wrapped his arms around the redhead's neck and pulled him close. "It's okay, Matty. Do you really think you'd go to sleep if this was a dream? And for twelve hours? It's all too real; just believe it."

Matt rested his head on Mello's shoulder. "Yeah, I'm being daft. But I'm just scared. I'm really, really scared…"

"You don't have to be scared. The scariest thing out here, now Kira's supposedly gone, is me. Or maybe Near."

Matt snorted. "Yeah, a nineteen-year-old and an albino: the most terrifying creatures on the planet."

"You better believe it."

"I love you, Mello."

Mello gulped painfully for the second time that night. "Me too, Matt."

They stayed like that for the best part of ten minutes, their only movements being a slight shifting to get more comfortable and/or closer.

"Maybe we never really died at all. Maybe we really are in hospital, and we're still dreaming," Matt theorised.

"Maybe. But how would we both be having the same dream?"

"Maybe one of us really did die, and the other person's dreaming them saying that." Matt drew the blond closer still, as if to disprove his previous suggestion.

"Nah, the very fact that you're thinking that proves that isn't what's happening. Dreams are funny like that."

"Yeah. Okay, so supernatural causes, then?"

"Probably," Mello confirmed.

"Maybe some random shinigami took pity on us?"

Mello nearly choked. "I don't think so, Matt. We only ever knew the one, and he wasn't exactly charitable."

"True…" Matt admitted, his thoughts drifting back to Sidoh and his weird passion for chocolate. (Now who did _that_ remind him of?)

"Maybe this is Hell."

"Uh, that's the spirit, Mello. Keep positive. Is being around me really that bad?" Matt jibed, smirking.

Mello shook his head. "But if you were suddenly taken away from me, this would turn into Hell pretty damn quickly."

Matt nuzzled into his friend's neck, innocently oblivious to what he was doing to the blond. "You're so sweet, Mello," he told him.

"You said it first. In a way." Mello kept his sentences short in order to avoid embarrassing (and obvious) stuttering.

"Yeah. But you're still sweet. You're never like this with anyone else."

"But you're not anyone else," Mello pointed out.

"True, that. Then again, maybe this is Heaven?" Matt tried to out a more optimistic spin on things.

"What have we done to deserve to get into Heaven? And anyway, I don't have a lifetime's supply of chocolate. This ain't Heaven," Mello concluded bluntly.

"Mels, for a normal person, the amount of chocolate you have in that cupboard _would_ be a lifetime's supply!"

"Huh? But that'll only last me a week at best." Mello pouted.

"And what does that say about you? See my point, Mello?"

"Point seen and cheerfully ignored, thank you Matt."

"You're such an assmunch."

"Well you're a bampot."

"Cockass."

"Dickfucker."

"Again with the homosexual accusations! Uh…godammit, we need to make up a swearword for E!"

"I know right. That's why I always make sure to start."

"You fag."

"Now _you're _calling _me_ gay!" Matt pointed at him like a judge reading a life sentence.

"Revenge is sweet."

"Is it now?"

"Uh huh."

"You know, we've been talking for nearly an hour now, and we still haven't come to any helpful conclusions about the why-we-still-here thing."

"Like I hadn't realised. Okay...I pass. Any ideas?"

"No."

"Well, I guess that settles it then. We'll just have to see if The Freak can come up with any better ones." Mello shrugged, pleased to offload his trouble onto someone else.

"Mello…?"

"What?"

"What are we going to do now we're here? Are we gonna rejoin the Mafia?" Matt asked, serious for once in his life.

"Hell, no! That was a shithole. Why? D'ya want to?" Mello was slightly disbelieving. Matt had always been the least enthusiastic during their time under Rod Ross' command.

"No. I was wondering if you wanted to. But obviously you don't, so yay." Matt was emotionless, which scared Mello slightly. "So what are we gonna do, then? With our newly-rediscovered lives?"

"Why can't we just live them like normal people? Well, as normal as we can get. What's wrong with that?" Mello asked, frowning in confusion.

"I never said anything _was_ wrong with that. I'd like nothing better. Why'd you think I didn't want to?"

"Dunno. Just the way you phrased the Mafia question, I guess."

"…So that's it then, it's decided." Matt stated, though really it sounded more like a question.

"Looks like it."

"Wow. That was simple. Nothing's ever simple with us. It's weird; I don't like it," Matt whined.

"You might have to get used to it. We're going to be normal people now, after all," Mello reminded him.

Predictably, it was only a few moments before they both burst into laughter.

Normal.

Yeah, right.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, Matt and Mello are going to try to be normal! I wonder how that'll work out for them...ehehehe... *evil face***

**Sorry for the Alphabet Insult Game. I can't remember whether me and my friends made it up or not...it was probably one of my friends, if so. I had to actually look up swearwords on the internet for this one! *is ashamed*  
**

**And before you ask, yes, there is an Alphabet Retards Club. I am a member. :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am currently trying to write an A/N and talk on Skype at the same time. It ain't working. Rainbow Fruit Loop said I have to tell ya'll it's her, btw. Weirdo. :P  
**

**Anyways, I really enjoyed writing this chapter...funny... And I really can't write anymore now, so...  
**

**ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:  
**

**DeathNoteLuvr  
**

**CatatonicVanity  
**

**DarkAngelJudas  
**

**HeroofTwilight'sgf  
**

**Rainbow Fruit Loop  
**

**Denueve  
**

**123lul  
**

**Sammi Levesque  
**

** and Kathrin J Pearl! Thanky doodle-doo and please review next time as well! XD  
**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

* * *

Chapter 3

As both of them had slept far longer than necessary that day, neither Mello nor Matt went to bed at any point during the night/early morning.

Some of it was spent preparing for the looming meeting with Near ("No, Mello, you _don't_ have to cut off his fingers just to get him to talk to us!"), and the rest was productively utilised for doing fuck all.

Mello somehow managed to chomp his way through his 'week's' supply of chocolate in five hours, with Matt watching in amazement, silently making bets with himself on whether and when Mello was going to throw up. (His bet: three am. Reality: never.)

Hypocritically, whenever Matt attempted to play some form of video game, either on the Xbox or his Gameboy, Mello slapped his hands and told him he shouldn't be fuelling his addiction, or he'd never be 'normal'.

Matt retaliated by endeavouring to hide Mello's chocolate fund, though he knew the only way that could end was Mello getting chocolate anyway, and the money in his own wallet mysteriously disappearing.

Predictably, at around six, Matt let loose with his famous, 'are we there yet?'-esque whine: "Mellooo, I'm boooreddd…"

"Tell someone who cares."

"But there's no one else here!"

"Tell someone who cares."

"But I just said—"

"Tell someone who cares. What do you suppose we do about it, huh, Matty?" Mello smiled sweetly at him, the homicidal urges practically rolling off him.

"Uh…I Spy?" Matt suggested. Getting punched in the face was indisputably favourable to nothing.

"Fuck no. You want a nap?" Mello asked him out of the blue.

"Uh…not really. Why?"

"Because you're going the right way to get one, courtesy of my fist."

"Right."

* * *

By the time two o'clock rolled around, Mello was ready to commit suicide. That, or shoot Matt through the head instead. The redhead had latched himself onto his arm 'for fun' and was refusing to let go. Normally, that wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but in this case, Matt was using his _teeth_, and he was drooling quite disgustingly all over Mello's vest.

Shaking his friend off his arm and examining the red teeth marks forming on his skin, Mello said, "Come on. If we're any later, the Sheep might just decide to clam up and not tell us anything out of spite."

"I'm sure he wouldn't do that!" Matt chirped trustingly. That was going to get him killed one day. Again.

"Don't matter if you're sure or not, he will. Hey, are we taking the bike or your car?"

"Car," Matt said instantly.

"Wimp. There's nothing to be scared of with a motorcycle, you know," Mello told him.

"Yes there is," Matt disagreed vehemently, "You could die."

"You could die just as easily in a car. And if these bruise, I'm going to kill you," Mello threatened, pointing to the still-red marks on his left bicep. "Why the hell did you feel the need to do that, anyway?"

"I was trying to see how far I could push you before you went all psycho on me," the redhead confessed, grinning.

"Really, Matt? Really?"

"Yup."

"…I don't know how you didn't die before fifteen. I really don't," Mello said, shaking his head.

"Well, are we going or what?" Matt asked, grabbing his car keys and heading for the garage. "You were the one that was worried about being late."

"Screw you."

"Yes, please."

Mello was speechless as he clenched his fists to stop himself from doing just that. _It was a joke, it was a joke…_

* * *

"Mello, Matt, good afternoon," Near greeted softly from his position on the floor.

"Hey, Near!" Matt replied. Mello was sullenly silent.

"I understand Mello and Matt are curious as to how the Kira Case ended…" Near trailed off, eyeing Mello's bite mark with trepidation.

"What?" the blond asked viciously, following the white-haired boy's gaze. "Oh, that. Yeah, Matt decided to—" Mello suddenly realised what it looked like.

"…I see," said Near quietly, blinking a couple of times.

Matt was gasping for air, having choked on oxygen while pissing himself laughing.

Mello glared at his so-called best friend. "I really am going to kill you one of these days." Turning to Near, he said, "It's not what it looks like."

It was obvious Near didn't believe him. "Indeed. Anyway, the facts of the Kira Case are as follows: Yagami Light was discovered to be Kira. He attempted to use his various accomplices to murder myself, Gevanni, Halle and Rester. When he discovered none of these were able to help him, for various reasons, he then appealed to his shinigami, who instead wrote down Yagami Light's own name in his note. Yagami Light subsequently died of a heart attack."

Matt frowned. "That sounds almost too easy. Are you skipping out stuff?"

"Only details. Yagami Light attempted to write my name on a scrap of note hidden in his watch, and was shot twice to prevent him from doing so."

"Pity about the shooting," Mello spat, earning a slap on his already abused arm from Matt.

Near regarded him coolly. "And now for the real question in this scenario: how exactly are Matt and Mello here?"

Matt hummed and hawed for a bit. "Well, we came up with a few theories last night, but disproved most of them. We were hoping you'd be able to help."

"I am afraid I cannot think of any reason apart from Mello and Matt deceiving me and somehow escaping death," Near told the two, executing the closest thing to a shrug he could.

"Well, I can assure you we didn't. What happened to Kira's shinigami?" Mello asked, deciding to contribute to the conversation.

"I am not sure. I assume it went back to its own world after Kira died," Near said.

"So it's definitely not here?" Mello asked to confirm.

"I have not seen it," Near informed them.

"Whatever. I was hoping we could ask it how we're here. I guess that was a right-off," Mello said bitterly, foiled again.

"Mels, seriously, can't we just leave it? I'm sure we'll find out eventually if it'll affect us from now on, and _then _we can do something about it, but for now, can we just let it go?" Matt pleaded, always nervous when Mello seemed too adamant on discovering the reason for their elongated existence.

"I will have to agree with Matt on this one," Near butted in, surprising them both, "Some mysteries are better left unsolved at times."

"…Why are you even L if you're going to take that angle on things?" Mello demanded, glaring at his rival.

"Huh, what?" Matt was confused. "Since when was Near L?"

Mello raised an eyebrow. "Who else do you think would have succeeded Yagami?"

"True…"

"Anyhow, I have told you my view on the situation," Near said, bringing them back to the previous conversation, "and I will stick by it until further evidence appears."

"But why?" Mello asked in desperation, "You're supposed to be curious!"

"I do not deny that I am curious, but this is beyond human influence, it seems. As was apparent in the Kira Case, supernatural things should mainly be left alone, for the good of everyone. Is Mello going to contradict me on that as well?"

Mello scowled, trying and failing not to pout like a five-year-old. "Fine."

"Well then, that's settled!" Matt said happily, pleased to have finally won an argument with Mello. Even if Near had helped a _little_ bit.

"Yeah, let's go now," said Mello, ever the eager one to escape.

"Could Mello and Matt wait a minute, please?" Near halted their progress, much to Mello's irritation.

"Bloody _what_?" the blond demanded, signs of Mello Rage being exuded.

"I was merely going to ask whether Mello and Matt wanted to hold the position of L equally with me, though Matt was not really on the successor list. I believe we could do well together," Near propositioned.

Mello blinked, surprised that Near was offering his position so easily, though Matt had often told him that not everyone was as ambitious or selfish as him.

Matt quickly grabbed his best friend's hand and dragged him in the direction of the door. "Sorry, but we'll have to decline. Me and Mello are gonna be normal now!"

Near watched them go calmly. "Very well. Oh, and Mello?"

The blond looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"My congratulations on Mello and Matt's long-overdue marriage," Near provoked him, smirking slightly.

Matt had to bodily drag Mello from the room to prevent him from strangling the boy.

* * *

**A/N: Who reckons Mello'll strangle Near by the end of this fic? I for one think it will be very likely. :)  
**

**Review pleasee!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Um, okay, so this chapter is tiny. But very funny, so forgive me...?  
**

**Dear Lord, I started school again last week. I'm dying... (melodrama is always fun) I haven't even started the homework I got! DX  
**

**Because I was in a hurry last chapter, I sort of forgot to do the chapter warnings. I can't remember if there is much to warn about in this one, but I'll check anyway! Okay, swearing, guns, and innuendo. That's pretty much it.  
**

**I got an AMAZING response to the last chapter! So many reviews... *kya kya* Thanks so much to:  
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**DarkAngelJudas  
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**missie.1308  
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**SmarticleParticle  
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**MidnightStorm34  
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**Bleeding Destruction  
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**DeathNoteLuvr16  
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**HeroofTwilight'sgf  
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**CatatonicVanity  
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**123lul  
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**MyBeautifulBlackHeart  
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**Kathrin J Pearl  
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**and Rainbow Fuit Loop! That's just sooo many people! XD  
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**Disclaimer: You'll see why I don't own Death Note when you start reading this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 4

When Matt awoke the next day staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, he knew it was going to be one of Those Days.

"Morning, Mels," he yawned, stretching.

"Where is it?" the blond demanded rudely, poking him in the forehead with the pistol just enough that it hurt. The blond was straddling Matt in a not-suggestive-_at-all_ position, holding the gun ready to blow a hole through the redhead's brain.

"Where is what?" Matt feigned innocence.

"Don't fuck around with me, Matt, where's my gun?"

Matt blinked. "Uh...in your hand...?"

Mello sneered. "Oh ha bloody ha, very funny. I know that, dipshit, where's my other gun?"

"Thought you were trying to be normal, Mels."

"And? No changing the subject," Mello ordered, not even flicking the safety on his gun back on.

"I'm not," Matt told him, deciding he should probably stay as still as possible lest he got shot. And/or dislodged Mello. That really would be a tragedy. "Having two guns in your possession is hardly normal, now is it, Mels?"

Mello quirked a brow. "So? Why should that bother me? We're never gonna be completely normal anyway."

"I know. But it bothers me. Two instruments that could possibly be used for my demise in one building is never good in my opinion."

"When have I ever threatened you at gunpoint, Matty?" Mello asked, looking slightly hurt, though it was obvious to anyone it was an act.

Matt just stared at him.

"Okay, apart from now, when have I ever threatened you with a gun?" Mello rephrased the question.

"Two weeks ago, when I tried to eat a bit of your chocolate." Matt reminded him.

"Fine," Mello admitted, "When have I ever been truly serious about lodging a bullet in your brain?"

"Two weeks ago, when I tried to–"

"Yeah, okay, okay, I get it. Whatever. Will you give me my gun back if I promise never to point it at you again?" the blond asked pleadingly.

"I won't _give_ it back. That would be weak. You'll have to find it," Matt informed him, pushing the barrel of Mello's gun away from his head and sitting up. As he'd predicted, Mello fell with a _whump_ to the carpeted floor.

Glaring at the redhead evilly, Mello sat up, put the safety on the gun again and laid it down on Matt's bedside table. "Find it? Where is it?"

"Nuh-uh, Mels, that would ruin all the fun," Matt teased, wagging his finger in the air.

Mello scowled at him. "Is it even in the house?" he asked.

"Yes. What do you take me for? I'm not about to leave a random gun lying around where some hobo could pick it up and shoot someone with it."

"Alright, then, do I get clues?"

"It's the place you want to be most in the world." Matt clutched his cheeks and made a fluttery girly-face.

Mello immediately headed over to the chocolate cabinet, followed by a snickering Matt still in his sweatpants. He slammed the door open and found...nothing. Not even a chocolate bar, for once.

"What?!" he protested, annoyed, "You said it'd be in the place I most wanted to be!"

Matt shook his head pityingly. "I'm not _that_ obvious, Mello. Think outside the box." Matt inwardly rejoiced at the long-awaited chance to throw Mello's over-used line right back at him.

Mello glowered at him for his troubles and stomped into his bedroom. Matt followed, curious.

He walked through the door and saw Mello flinging the covers back of his bed and lifting up the pillow. He then patted the sheets for signs of a gun-shaped metal thing.

"Not here," he declared unnecessarily.

"No shit, Mels," Matt said sarcastically.

Mello shoved him roughly out of the way as he stormed out in a huff. Matt trailed after him, laughing not-so-silently.

Mello was standing in the middle of the hallway, pondering on where Matt would think he most wanted to be.

Coming to a conclusion, he set off back towards the sitting room. There, he uprooted the cushions off the sofas and checked thoroughly behind the TV. Finding nothing, he turned around to glare at Matt again.

"Okay, I don't know, where is it?" he questioned sulkily, probably not aware of his five-year-old pout.

Matt laughed, deciding to tease the blond some more. It was just so much fun.

"I'm not telling, Mello!" he sang, skipping around his friend provocatively, "You have to find it!"

All of a sudden, Mello made a grab for the redhead's ass.

Holding his newly-found pistol to Matt's head, Mello snarled, "I am so going to kill you for that, Jeevas."

Matt roared with laughter, not intimidated at all. "Naw, Mello, who would have thought you wanted in my pants most of all?"

Mello pressed the gun harder into his head. That was going to leave a bruise. "You fucker. I saw it when you were skipping around like a fucking girl!" he yelled, shoving Matt back forcefully.

Matt pouted. He'd hidden Mello's gun under his pillow and shoved it down the back of his sweatpants while Mello was storming out of the room to the chocolate cabinet. The prank had been well worth the death threats. "Aw, that ruins all the fun. What were you doing looking there, anyway?" he asked, wondering whether it was a good idea to try Mello's temper even more.

It wasn't. A gunshot rang out, deafening Matt for a second. When he realised he wasn't dead for the second time that week, Matt squinted his eyes open to see Mello pointing a smoking gun at the ceiling, which had just acquired a charming hole.

"Don't push your luck," Mello warned him before stalking off to sulk and write 'CHOCOLATE' at least fifteen times on their weekly shopping list. He was always especially pissy when they ran out of the stuff.

* * *

**A/N: Yup, it's short. Sorry. I just thought I'd give ya'll insight into Mello and Matt's failure at trying to be normal. None of you thought it would work, right? :P  
**

**Matt's such a tease, huh? Poor Mels...but why do you think Matt keeps on baiting him? Hm? Hm? Tell me your thoughts!  
**

**Also, I've decided that if I am STUNNED by the ammount of reviews in my inbox next morning (so that'll give you around twenty four hours), I may update sooner! It depends. And I don't know how much it'll take for me to be stunned. Depends what mood I'm in. :) So everyone review, and then you will ensure a faster update! (Blackmail ftw)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Ah, I remember writing this chapter...good times. I'll do the warnings now, before I forget! Okay, swearing (obviously), gore (but not much, I'm squeamish) and fluff. I HEART FLUFF! *crazy fluff-addict face*  
**

**Anyways, hi! Obviously, I wasn't stunned by the reviews on Sunday, so no early update. I'm mean. Live with it. But I'm updating now, which is good, right? I'm dying from schoolwork and teacher-itis, and this is pretty much my only distraction. Yay...  
**

**I don't think I've told you guys this before, so I will now: this story's only seven chapters long. No kid. So, the one after next is the end. In case you can't subtract. :) I don't seem to be able to write long fics anymore! It's sad... *weeps*  
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**Anyways, thank you to:  
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**DeathNoteLuvr16  
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**Adurna Skulblaka  
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**First time Fanfic  
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**Dark Angel Judas  
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**HeroofTwilight'sgf  
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**CatatonicVanity  
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**Kathrin J Pearl  
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**Rainbow Fruit Loop  
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**SmarticleParticle  
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**allforoneforall  
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**and Ironicsheep! You guys are great! Luv ya!  
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**Disclaimer: Death Note mine is not. Yes, speaking like Yoda I am.  
**

* * *

Chapter 5

Matt sighed.

And again.

And again.

And one more time, for good measure.

Now normally, at this point, Matt would currently be lying on the floor with a bleeding nose and an enraged Mello standing over him like the scary scary Mafia boss he was, screaming that if Matt didn't stop making those fucking noises all the time, he'd give him something to _really_ sigh about.

Obviously, though, that was not the case. The reason: Mello was out. He'd finally gotten sick of having no chocolate around the place, and after trying unsuccessfully for a full fifteen minutes to get Matt to go for him, Mello decided to go to the store himself. Matt had reminded his friend to get a couple of packs of cigarettes for the redhead (he was running out too), but doubted Mello would do it. The guy could be _spiteful_ at times.

So, Matt was sitting at the breakfast table, munching on a bowl of cereal and exercising his new-found freedom to sigh. After a while it got boring, despite the novelty, so Matt stopped.

Due to the Kira case, in order to avoid going to the store, Matt and Mello had stocked up on an enormous amount of non-perishables a month ago and lived off that until the day they died. Now they were alive again, they had no food. They hadn't exactly _planned_ for a surprise resurrection.

During that month, stressful though it was, Matt had enjoyed Mello's constant company immensely. The blond was his best friend, and when he'd left Matt at Wammy's House to beat the shit out of Kira, he'd taken most of Matt's heart along with him. Thankfully, Matt had been able to track him down after three years, but by that time, he missed the blond so much he'd actually had _withdrawal symptoms_. Mello'd thought he'd been doing crack while he'd been gone.

Needless to say, as soon as Matt had reunited with Mello, he'd point-blank refused to be away from the blond for more than ten minutes at a time. That hadn't changed when they'd started monitoring Amane Misa; if anything, they'd spent even _more_ time around each other. Matt hadn't been complaining, and though the blond denied it vehemently, Mello hadn't either.

Subsequently, Matt had become accustomed to Mello's uninterrupted presence. And now, he was suffering for it. Mello had been gone all of twenty minutes, and he already couldn't de-stress enough to play a video game!

Finishing his cereal, Matt picked up his bowl and took it over to the dishwasher, loading it carefully. He'd never done anything of the sort before, but now he needed something, _anything_ to keep him occupied.

Unfortunately, his distraction didn't last very long, and immediately afterwards, Matt was missing Mello again. When had he gotten so clingy?

Matt walked over to the food cabinet and opened the doors. All he could see was half a jar of peanut butter, a bag of flour, some sugar, lentils (What? Neither he nor Mello ever ate lentils), a pack of butter that looked very off, sunflower oil, baking powder and salt. Yum yum. Not that he'd been expecting much.

Strolling over to the fridge, Matt peeked inside. The supplies there were even worse than the cupboard, and all he could see that looked edible was a single egg. Joy.

Matt grabbed the peanut butter and a teaspoon and was just about to dig in when he had a sudden thought.

Hurriedly checking the cupboard and fridge again, Matt discovered with amazement that they had most of the ingredients for peanut butter cookies. Minus the baking soda and butter, but Matt never got why they needed baking soda, and he could substitute the butter with oil.

Baking had never been his strong skill, but Matt knew he was smart enough to follow a simple recipe off the web.

Unlocking his laptop, Matt did a quick search and found a recipe for what he wanted. It sounded easy enough (famous last words), so Matt printed off the page and set to work.

He didn't bother creaming the 'butter', for obvious reasons, so instead immediately added the correct amount of sugar to the oil and began mixing. He then added the egg and peanut butter, noting with relief that, somehow, the egg was not rotten.

While mixing the dry ingredients, Matt got into a bit of a mess, as he didn't realise they'd..._poof_ everywhere so easily. He added the powdery mixture to the oil and sugar with trepidation, but nothing else too catastrophic happened, to his relief.

Reading the next part of the recipe, Matt scowled. 'Refrigerate for three hours'? Hell no, he wanted a nice batch of cookies by the time Mello came back.

Forgoing the fridge, Matt turned on the oven and started rolling the dough into little balls. He put these on a baking-parchment-ed tray and squished them with a fork. He didn't have a clue why the recipe told him to do that, but hey, it looked cool.

He shoved them into the oven and waited impatiently for ten minutes for the cookies to 'turn a light golden-brown'. When the time was up, he practically skipped to the oven and flung the door open, grabbing an oven mit.

Well, it was a _very _light brown, but it'd have to do.

Ignoring the recipe's demand for a cooling rack (he didn't have one), Matt set the tray down on the counter and poked one of the cookies experimentally to see if it was still hot.

While running his scorched finger under the cold tap, Matt admitted that might have been a stupid idea.

Glancing anxiously at the clock and seeing it had been nearly forty minutes since Mello left, Matt started blowing frantically over the cookies to cool them down faster. Mello would be back any minute.

Realising that he wasn't doing much except hyperventilating, Matt grabbed a fan, put the cookies by an open window and let that cool them down instead.

Bored, he scanned the kitchen for more stuff to do.

Realising the oven was still on and on the verge of combusting, Matt rushed to switch it off and breathed a sigh of relief.

He then saw that Mello, the lazy bastard, had left his breakfast things on the counter, waiting for Matt to clean them up in an uncharacteristic display of neatness.

Muttering angrily to himself, Matt grabbed the plate and glass and went to put them in the dishwasher. He didn't know how domestic people coped, he honestly didn't. This housework lark was ridiculous.

Matt made to grab the kitchen knife on the counter as well, but was too hasty and knocked it off instead. In a moronic attempt to catch the thing, the sharp blade sliced a long gash down his forearm.

Matt gazed in incomprehension at the blood dripping onto the floor before the pain kicked in.

"Shit shit shit shit _shit_!" Matt gasped as he cradled his arm to his chest, further ruining his favourite T-shirt. He grabbed a tea towel and wrapped it firmly around his arm to staunch the blood flow. It seemed to make it bleed even faster, staining the tea towel at a phenomenal rate.

Of course, Mello chose that exact moment to enter the flat.

He stared at the scene before him in amazement before springing into action. "Matt!" he yelled desperately, abandoning the shopping bags and rushing over to where his best friend stood, hunched over in pain. "What happened?"

"Dropped a knife..." Matt forced out through gritted teeth, still holding his arm to his body.

"Fuck," Mello cursed, worried, to say the least. "Was it clean?"

Matt nodded. "Think so."

"Let me see, Matty." Mello gently coaxed Matt's good arm away from the bad and took the bloodied hand. He carefully pulled the arm away from Matt's torso so he could unwrap the tea towel and examine the wound. "Shit, Matt!"

Mello's words did nothing to reassure the redhead, who's world was getting very blurry.

"This is going to need stitches," Mello continued, wrapping the injury back up.

"We...can't go to the...hospital!" Matt protested weakly, swaying on his feet, "We're criminals!"

Mello slipped an arm around Matt's waist, steadying him. "But–" Seeing Matt's desperate look, Mello gave in. "Oh, all right. I have a First Aid kit with sewing tools, but..."

Matt leaned on him heavily. "I trust you, Mello," he said, "Please?"

Mello answered by guiding him to the bathroom. He opened the small cabinet there and brought out a small case.

Producing a small tube, sterile wipes, a needle and medical thread, Mello approached Matt again, who was now sitting slumped on the closed toilet.

Unscrewing the lid on the tube, Mello said, "This is numbing cream; it'll make it so you won't feel anything."

Matt didn't answer, only nodded.

Mello knelt down in front of his friend and unwrapped the soiled towel again, casting it to the side. Worryingly, he then fished in his pocket and brought out a flick-knife.

"M-Mello?" Matt asked, confused and concerned.

Mello smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm just cutting away your shirt sleeve so it won't get in the way," he explained, before doing so.

"Right..." Matt leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling.

After removing his sleeve, Mello cleaned his arm with the antiseptic wipes, and though he was very gentle, Matt winced at the sting. He then set to work applying the numbing cream, which also hurt at first, but a strange sense of unfeeling swallowed up the pain after a few moments.

Matt kept his eyes firmly on the ceiling, refusing to look down as Mello picked up the needle and threaded it.

Despite himself, when Mello dipped a hand into the redhead's own pocket, his curiosity took over. "Uh...Mello? Whatcha doin'?" he mumbled, still feeling faint.

"Trying to find your lighter," Mello told him, fishing deeper.

"Try the other one."

Mello did so, and discovered the hand-held lighter. He then sterilised the needle quickly by holding it over the flame for a couple of seconds. After waiting a moment, he touched it to check it wasn't too hot.

Satisfied, Mello reached for Matt's arm again.

Matt looked away, feeling squeamish. His stomach had never been strong at the best of times.

Trying to distract himself from the odd tugging sensations on his arm, Matt asked the blond, "Did you get the cigarettes?"

"Yeah, actually," Mello said, surprising Matt, "I thought I'd do you a favour."

"And now you're doing me another," Matt sighed, feeling guilty.

"Don't be silly, this doesn't count. You'd do the same for me."

Matt thought about it. "I'm not sure you'd want me trying to sew up your arm, Mels. You know what happens when I see gore."

"...Oh. Yeah, that's right. Well, I know you'd grab fake ID and drive me to the hospital," Mello amended. Matt could hear him smiling, even if he wasn't currently looking at his friend's face.

"Okay, done!" Mello shocked him by announcing. Mello snipped off the thread and reached over for some medical tape.

"What, already?" Matt asked, wondering how it had been so fast.

"Yeah, it wasn't immensely long! I mean, it was still pretty damn big, but..." Mello trailed off as he stuck his tongue out in concentration to place the tape carefully over the wound.

Matt made to look down, but Mello's hand under his chin stopped him. "I wouldn't look just yet, Matty," the blond advised, turning Matt's head away again.

"Fine," Matt breathed.

Mello found a bandage and wrapped up Matt's arm. Tucking the end in, he said, "Right, _now_ you can look."

Matt did, and was amazed at the length of his arm covered with white. "Wow. It really was long."

"Yeah," Mello agreed, looking grim. "You were lucky it was on the top, and not the inside of your arm, where all the–"

"Okay, thanks for that, Mello!" Matt cut him off, feeling nauseous. "Too much information!"

"Sorry," Mello smirked. "You alright now?" he asked.

"Pretty much. I feel a bit light-headed, though," Matt admitted.

Mello moved back quickly. "Light-headed how?"

"Not in a going-to-be-sick way, don't worry," Matt reassured him.

Mello breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, just blood loss." He started cleaning up the First Aid equipment and blood.

"How much blood _did _I lose?" Matt asked, curiously.

Mello hesitated. "...I don't think you want to see the kitchen," he said decisively.

Matt nodded. "Right. Okay."

Mello suddenly chuckled, causing Matt to look at him in confusion. "I was just remembering going to the shop, like a _normal_ person, leaving you half-awake, stuffing your face with cereal, like a _normal_ person, and then coming back to...this! I don't think we're ever going to be normal, are we, Matty?"

Matt snorted. "Like hell we are!" He was silent for a second before saying, "I made peanut butter cookies, by the way. I would have made chocolate ones for you, but there wasn't any cocoa. They probably taste like shit, but–"

Mello surprised the redhead by reaching up and enveloping him in a hug. He clutched Matt tightly to him, making Matt wonder if he was ever going to let go. He didn't care if the blond didn't.

Matt returned the hug, nuzzling his nose into Mello's hair and breathing deeply to banish the sickening smell of blood. "Thank you, Mello," he whispered gratefully. "Love you."

Matt felt Mello's chest expand and contract in a sigh. Before he could feel upset or perturbed by it, though, Mello mumbled back, "I love you too, Matty. Steer clear of knives for a bit, 'kay?"

"No problem," Matt answered fervently.

* * *

**A/N: Bleahhhh...gore...I really don't know why I wrote this. I was wincing the whole way through.  
**

**And the peanut butter cookis recipe is based on a real one! Just add actual butter and baking soda, and they should be okay.  
**

**Also, I've decided to give you a second chance with the early update bribe thing. So, in case you forgot, if I am STUNNED by the amount of reviews in my inbox tomorrow morning, I will update then and there. I'm not quite sure what will make me STUNNED, but I'm thinking probably over ten. I'm a hard person to please, sorry. But don't worry! Even if I'm not STUNNED, I'll update next Saturday as usual! Good luck! :P  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yay, penultimate chapter! I can't remember what happens in this one, though. Uh... *scrolls down* Aha! Warnings would be: swearing, violence, more violence, fluff/angst (take your pick), and French. I shall have to remember to do a translation at the bottom...  
**

**Anyhoo! I got another awesome response for the last chapter, but again, not quite enough initially for me to be STUNNED. As is probably obvious. It's Saturday. :P I MAY update early with the last chapter if I feel all fuzzy inside reading reviews, though. SO REVIEW!  
**

**People to thank for reviews etc:  
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**Voldanita  
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**Booklover2526  
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**DeathNoteLuvr16  
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**HeroofTwilight'sgf  
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**DarkAngelJudas  
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**MyBeautifulBlackHeart  
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**SmarticleParticle  
**

**AkatsukiFreak31 (who, btw has submitted a fic inspired by this one (KYA!) called Disfunctional. It's not yaoi (at least, I don't THINK it is...), but you might want to check it out anyways!)  
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**Rainbow Fruit Loop  
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**Kiku-Goldenflower  
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**erihan  
**

**and IssaHORROR! Woo!  
**

**Disclaimer: I can't think of anymore original ways to do this. Uh...Death Note isn't mine. Hence why I'm on this amazing site (you may have heard of it) called...bugger. No, it's not called bugger, but I just realised it deleted the name, even though it wasn't a link. Damn. You're on it, though, so...  
**

* * *

Chapter 6

Munching on a bar of his newly-acquired chocolate, Mello sat on Matt's bed and watched the redhead play his newest game. He had no idea what it was, some war-simulating thing. He always found it entrancing, though, how Matt's fingers worked so deftly to control the little character on the screen.

Mello looked on as Matt's avatar scaled a building at ridiculous speed, only to get shot in the head when he reached the top.

"_Godammit_!" Matt yelled, throwing down his controller. "I give up!"

Mello raised an eyebrow. Matt never gave up, not when it came to video games. In fact, the redhead had been known to stay up for days on end in favour of a new game, only sleeping when Mello literally tied him down to the bed and threatened him with chloroform.

"Why do you insist on watching me play, Mello?" Matt asked wearily, "It puts me off my stride."

"Yeah, sure, blame it on me," Mello said calmly, wrapping up his chocolate bar and placing it on the unmade bed.

"But it's your fault!"

"How? I watch you all the time, and you've never failed quite that badly before," Mello pointed out.

Matt turned to give him accusing evils. "Shut up," he advised.

Mello smirked, hopped off the bed and crouched down next to his best friend. "So, now that you've given up on that hopeless case, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

Matt groaned. "You've been waiting to ask this for the entire time, haven't you?"

No," Mello lied, "Why would I do that?"

Matt just looked at him.

"Do you want to go to the park? Or go swimming?" Mello asked, trying to think of as many normal activities as possible.

Matt sniffed. "Neither. I'd rather stay here; moving bores me."

Mello snorted. "Fair enough. Lazy bastard."

"Well you're an over-active bastard!" Matt retorted.

"Unoriginal bastard."

"Blond bastard."

Mello glared at him. "Ginger bastard."

"I'm not ginger!" Matt denied, "It's red! _Red_!"

"Otherwise known as ginger," said Mello, chuckling.

"Well if I'm ginger, you're...dumb!"

"Second cleverest person in the world..." Mello reminded him.

"...Screw you. You can be clever and dumb!"

Mello rolled his eyes. "Because that really makes sense. 'Hey, guys, this is my clever, dumb friend!' You ever heard of an oxymoron, Matty?"

"No," Matt admitted, "Whazzit?"

Mello blinked. "You. You're an oxymoron, you retarded genius!"

"If I'm retarded, you're..."

"We've been through this before, Matt."

"Hey! Don't interrupt!" Matt reprimanded his friend. "I was going to say, if I'm retarded, you're socially inept!"

Mello squinted, trying to see Matt's logic. "How am I socially inept?" he asked, after he'd failed.

"You have absolutely no people skills! When someone doesn't do what you want, you threaten them with a gun until they do! That's not socially okay!" Matt told him.

"How isn't it?" Mello asked, honestly confused, "It works, right?"

Matt groaned, putting his face in his hands. "Let's put it this way, Mels: how many girlfriends have you had?"

"Well how many have _you_ had?" Mello snapped, folding his arms across his chest. "You're in no position to criticise!"

Matt hesitated. "I believe this is what people call an _impasse_," he said thoughtfully, biting his lip.

"Well done on your French skills, Matty," Mello 'congratulated'.

"_Va te faire foutre_!" Matt told him politely, "_Esp__è__ce de salaud..._" he added for good measure.

"_Merde, Matty a jur__é_!" Mello laughed.

Matt scowled at him. "Either way, I've established that I can speak French," he announced smugly.

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Mello allowed.

They were interrupted by the unmistakeable sound of an incoming call from Matt's laptop.

"Huh," was all Matt could say when they saw who it was. "What could Near want with us now?"

"Fuck it, don't pick up!" Mello half-begged, though he knew it was futile.

"Could be important," Matt told him as he clicked 'Answer'.

"Matt, Mello?" Near's voice was accompanied by a head of white fluff and dark, serious eyes.

"Piss off, Sheep!" was Mello's greeting.

Near ignored him. "We have discovered Yagami Light's former shinigami. He says he wishes to speak with Matt and Mello."

* * *

Tyres squealing, Matt braked harshly and slid the car sideways into a parking space. The two got out, barely even bothering to shut the doors before they rushed into the SPK building.

Mello tried not to think about the last occasion he'd been here, his scar new and hideous on his marred face. This wasn't the same; he had Matt with him this time.

Though fucking Near was probably going to be just as annoying as before, if not more so.

"Where is it?" Mello demanded as they burst into the room where Near had said he'd be. "Where the fuck is it?"

"Calm as always, I see, Mello," Near spoke up from his position on the floor in the middle of the room.

"Seriously, though, Near," Matt said urgently, "Where's the shinigami? And why does he want to see us?"

Near decided not to answer the questions and instead got up to walk over to the two. It was then that Mello and Matt realised what he was carrying.

"The shinigami dropped this," Near held up the Death Note, "On my head." He tapped the two with the Note deliberately. "He's behind Matt and Mello," he told them helpfully.

They turned around and jumped at the shinigami's proximity.

"Bloody hell," Matt breathed, "Not much of a looker, this one, is he?"

The shinigami chuckled. "The name's Ryuk. I gave Light-o the Death Note."

"Yeah, we know that," Mello spat, "The hell d'ya wanna talk to us?"

Ryuk snickered. "Well, at first I thought it'd be fun to try and convince Fluffball there to become the next Kira, but he didn't buy it. So you two were the next best option!"

"Piss off!" Mello told him. "No way in fuck."

"I have to second that," Matt chipped in.

"Aw, shame," Ryuk said, his smile never slipping, "It would've been brilliant fun if you'd accepted!"

Mello rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that bullshit. If you really wanted one of us to be Kira, you wouldn't have suggested it in front of Near in the first place! Now why are you really here?"

"I am led to believe that this shinigami knows the reason as to why Matt and Mello have been resurrected," Near said quietly.

There was silence.

"Oh yeah," Ryuk mused, "I do."

"Then fucking tell us!" Mello yelled, his curiosity burning a proverbial hole in the seat of his proverbial underwear.

"Nah, that'd be boring."

Mello Wrath was ignited. "I'll shoot you!" the blond screamed, drawing his gun and pointing it at the guffawing shinigami.

Matt just yawned and went to sit down.

Finally, Ryuk stopped laughing long enough to say, "Bullets don't hurt me, you know."

"I know that!" Mello told him, voice still overly-loud, "I'll do it anyway!"

Ryuk doubled over.

After a few minutes, in which Ryuk never stopped laughing and Mello shot off a few rounds, the shinigami wiped his eyes and sighed. "Ah, I never thought this visit would be quite so amusing."

Mello's face contorted in even more potent rage. "_Amusing_?!" he screeched, "I'll give you amusing–"

"Okay, Mello, that's enough. It doesn't work," Matt told him. "Let's just put the gun away and calm down a bit, alright?"

Mello obeyed, though he didn't relax very much. "This fucker irritates me beyond belief," he muttered.

"Like we hadn't guessed." Matt stood up again and walked over to where the shinigami hovered. "What to you want in exchange for the reason why we're here?" he asked.

"Hmm..." Ryuk considered. "Do you have any apples?" he asked hopefully.

Matt blinked. Then he remembered.

_'L, do you know shinigami love apples?'_

_Geez,_ Matt thought, _who would've thought Kira was actually serious?_

Out loud, he said, "Fine. How many d'you want?"

Ryuk considered. "Twenty?"

"Okay." Matt wondered how he was going to buy twenty apples without looking like a freak. He concluded it was impossible.

Near and Mello were silent, waiting in anticipation.

Ryuk was silent too.

Finally, Mello spoke up. "Well?"

"Well what?"

The blond's eyelid twitched. "Well, how are we here?"

"Oh! _That's_ what you wanted to know!" Ryuk chortled.

Mello marched over with the full intention of strangling the shinigami.

Near caught his sleeve, holding him back.

"Don't touch me, you little freak!" Mello hissed viciously at him.

Near let go and looked away.

Ryuk's laughter trailed off and he looked up. "Well, I may as well tell you. Basically, it was all down to confusion."

"Huh?" The audience of three was suitably confused.

"It was a paradox. What couldn't happen happened, and it confused the hell out of the judges that were to decide whether you went to Heaven or not," Ryuk explained charitably.

Matt was still confused. "How was it a paradox?" he asked, voicing the question everyone was thinking.

"Surely you can figure _that_ out, genii!" Ryuk teased.

The blank faces told him everything he needed to know.

"Okay. Well, Ginger, how's about you tell us why you died?"

Matt scowled at the nickname and obliged, "Mello was going to die, so I died first," he said simply.

Mello winced.

Ryuk turned to the blond. "And why'd you die, Blondie?"

"Death Note," was all Mello said.

"Yeah, but you could've prevented that if you wanted. Why didn't you?"

"My death would forward the investigation," Mello told him, "It was either me or Kira's success."

Ryuk smirked. "How about you tell us the whole truth?"

Matt looked up sharply.

Mello frowned. "I...didn't see the point in living any longer without Matt as well."

"Sweet..." Ryuk crooned mockingly at the same time Matt yelled, "_What_?! You thought _what_?!"

"You thought the same!" Mello retorted heatedly, face flushing.

"Mello, Matt," Near's quiet voice interrupted them. "This isn't really the time."

The friends fell silent, keeping their eyes averted from each other's.

"So anyway," Ryuk continued, "As you can see, Blondie's death was partly caused by Ginger's death, which was caused by Blondie's death, which was caused by Ginger's death and so on and so on. You nearly gave the judges a brain haemorrhage trying to figure out what to do with the two of you, so they just brought you back to life."

Matt tutted. "Lazy bastards."

"You can talk," Mello told him.

"You complaining?" Ryuk asked curiously.

"No!" Matt denied, "Just surprised me, that's all. I expected the afterlife to be better run."

Ryuk sniggered. "You'd be so lucky. I want those apples now," he demanded.

"Fine, fine, we'll go get them just n–"

"I will acquire the apples for the shinigami," Near told them, "If Matt and Mello wish, they may take their leave now."

Mello sniffed haughtily. "Trying to get rid of us?" he challenged.

"No," the boy denied, "I merely thought Mello at least would be happier outside this building."

"You were right there," Mello told him, grabbing Matt's arm and dragging him to the exit.

"Wait!"

They stopped and turned, incredulous. Had Near just raised his voice?

"I...didn't previously have a chance to tell Mello and Matt this, but I am relieved they are not dead. I was saddened when I heard the news," Near admitted, voice back to its normal volume.

Matt and Mello were stunned. Near cared about them? That was a new one.

"Uh...thanks, Near," Matt finally said, still blinking furiously behind his goggles, as if that would speed up comprehension. "I guess...we'd feel the same for you, if something happened...?" He glanced at Mello, ready to correct the blond's imminent denial.

To everyone's surprise, Mello said nothing. He merely nodded and left the room, Matt behind him.

Ryuk turned to the white-haired boy. "So...you're completely sure you wouldn't like to try out the Death Note? It's pretty cool."

"Kindly leave me alone. I will purchase the apples, and then I would appreciate it if Ryuk left."

"Whatever..."

* * *

Matt drove to the apartment in silence, Mello in the passenger seat. When he reached the secluded garage, the redhead turned off the engine and disappeared into the flat.

Mello hurried after him, dread pooling in his stomach.

He entered their living quarters just behind Matt, and was about to ask his friend what was wrong when Matt punched him solidly in the face.

Mello staggered backwards and tripped, landing flat on his back. "Matt?" he gasped, holding a hand to his mouth, where he could feel blood puddling on his tongue.

Matt kicked in in the stomach, winding him and causing Mello to choke on the blood in his mouth.

Coughing violently, Mello rolled onto his side so he wouldn't inhale more of his own blood. He hoped Matt wouldn't kick him again.

He didn't.

He screamed at him instead.

"Why the _fuck _would you do something like that, Mello?!" he bellowed. "How could you do that?!"

"Do...what...?" Mello wheezed, though he knew the answer.

Matt let out a strangled cry and made to kick him in the head. His boot stopped centimetres from its target when Mello drew up his arms to shield himself.

He collapsed next to the blond.

"What do you think, Mello? What do you fucking _think_?! How could you just let yourself die like that, because I did?!"

Mello smiled without humour. "Funny. I thought you'd have figured out my reasons for dying sooner. I was surprised when I realised you hadn't."

"_Answer my question_!" Matt screeched.

Mello sighed. "There's no point in a world without you, Matt," he told him.

Matt started crying, huge sobs racking his slender form. "But there isn't even a _world_ without you!" he said brokenly, "You can't die, you can never die, not like that..."

Mello reached out to touch his friend's face. Matt looked at him, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

"Matt..." Mello whispered, stroking the vibrant hair. Matt leaned into the touch, like Mello's hand was a lifeline. "I'm sorry, Matt. But you know how painful it was for me. You weren't coming back, and I blamed myself for your death."

Matt hiccuped. "It wasn't your fault, it wasn't, it _wasn't_," he repeated the words like a mantra.

Mello sighed. "I'm so glad you're here with me, Matt. If I hadn't let myself die, we'd have never be together again. That's a reason to think of it as a good thing, right?"

"Well, that's one way of putting it," Matt smiled wanly.

Mello drew his friend towards him, encircling Matt in his arms.

Matt touched his cheek tenderly, examining the bruise forming there. "Sorry for hitting you," he apologised.

"It's okay," Mello told him. It didn't even hurt much anymore.

Matt seemed to hesitate for a second before leaning forward, his nose brushing the blond's lightly. Mello's breath hitched, and his heart stopped for so long he thought he was having another heart attack.

Matt paused one final second before closing the gap between them. He planted a soft, loving kiss on Mello's forehead.

As the redhead pulled away, Mello violently forced the disappointed tears to stay where they belonged.

"Love you, Mels," Matt whispered. How many times had he said those words? And yet they never meant what Mello so wished they did.

Mello didn't answer, just buried his head in Matt's shoulder and let himself pretend, just for a moment.

* * *

**A/N: Naw, poor Mello... :( He got a kiss, though! That cute enough for you, even if it wasn't quite the thing everyone was hoping for?**

**AH! Almost forgot! The French! Okay, in order of speech, it means:  
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**_Va te faire foutre_: Fuck off**

**_Esp__è__ce de salaud_: You bastard  
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**_Merde, Matty a jur__é_: Shit, Matty swore_  
_**

**Annnd, I think that's it! Immature French ftw! XD  
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**Remember! Reviews may equal faster updates! I may be hard to please, but if you don't review you can be assured that nothing will happen. I know I sound like a review addict right now, but the awful truth is...I am. Have fun with that. :)  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: HOWDY, YA'LL! YES, IT'S AN EARLY UPDATE! **

**Yay, I got loads and loads and loads of reviews etc for last chapter, and I was STUNNED. Then I read them and I felt FUZZEH. So, I decided not only to update early, but to update NOW! Only just read them. Kya kya kya kya thank youuuuuu! *freaks out*  
**

**So, this is the last chapter (sniff sniff) and to be honest...I preferred the one before. I don't know what's wrong with this, but I really couldn't think of anything else. Sorry, please forgive me if I ruin your UPDATE-HYPE! (I get them lol)  
**

**Anyways, I actually already have another Mello/Matt fic in the works (cos I'm THAT addicted to them), but it's going kinda slowly. Anyway, it's called Celestial (unless I change the name) and it's an AU. I've got...four chapters written or so. It probably won't be uploaded for a while...but if you're interested, please keep a lookout for it! I will love you. X3  
**

**Anyway, warnings for this chapter: swearing (almost definitely), innuendo (a quite funny one, I think. Cos I wrote it, and then realise what it was implying and I was like, O_O perverts have taken over my subconcious...) and...uh, yaoi? It is a yaoi fic...  
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**The ridiculous (in a good way) amount of people to review etc:  
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**DarkAngelJudas  
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**HeroofTwilight'sgf  
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**SmarticleParticle  
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**AkatsukiFreak31  
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**CatatonicVanity  
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**Guest (and, can I just say, you're the coolest person in the world for reviewing, even if you didn't have account. That, or you were just too lazy to log in. But either way, you are VERY cool for reviewing, as is everyone else who did!)  
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**MyBeautifulBlackHeart  
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**Kathrin J Pearl  
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**Ironicsheep  
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**and Rainbow Fruit Loop! That is a HUGE amoung of people! OMG FACE. (from The Sacrament of Reconciliation. Which is one of my fics, not the ACTUAL sacrament of reconciliation. That would probably be blasphemy...in some form.)  
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**Disclaimer: Uh...for the final time in this fic, I NO OWN DEATH NOTE! But I may buy a black notebook and write on the cover in Tippex, then pretend to kill all the teachers I hate...yes, I'm that weird. :)**

* * *

Chapter 7

Mello was sitting on the sofa, flicking through TV channels and uncharacteristically pondering upon nothing much, though it did mainly revolve around Matt.

The redhead himself was still sleeping, having emotionally exhausted himself the night before.

Scowling, Mello scrubbed his forehead for the umpteenth time that morning. He could still feel Matt's lips there, as if the sensation had been branded onto his skin.

Sighing, Mello dropped the television remote and put his head in his hands, ignoring whatever show he'd left on the screen. It was getting harder and harder for Mello to control himself around his best friend, especially now Matt had decided to bring in some slightly anti-orthodox features into their friendship. It was obvious the redhead thought of Mello only as a friend, even if he did proclaim his affection, hug and now even kiss the blond frequently.

Mello shook his head. He was getting ahead of himself. Matt had given him _one_ peck on the forehead. That did not necessarily mean it was going to become a habit; he had been overwhelmed and confused at the time – it had more than likely just been a spontaneous action.

That didn't mean it hadn't affected Mello any less, though.

From that moment onwards, all the blond seemed to be able to think about was Matt, Matt's mouth, Matt's mouth on his forehead, his cheek, his lips, his–

Mello slapped himself on the bad side of his face, then clutched his cheek in his hands and moaned in pain. He realised he must look like a complete lunatic, but it didn't matter, as there was no one else to see.

Or so he thought.

"Mels? What are you doing?" Matt's voice came from behind the blond, who mentally groaned at the sound. This was really the last thing he needed right now.

"Mello?" Matt asked again, walking round to stand in front of his friend's form. Mello could see the redhead's feet through his fingers.

Matt gently pried Mello's hands from his face. Mello still refused to look up.

Tutting softly, Matt grasped the blond's chin with his fingers and lifted Mello's head to look at him. The redhead wasn't wearing his goggles for once, Mello noted.

"What's wrong, Mels?" Matt inquired tenderly.

Mello bit his lip before answering. "Knocked my face," he explained weakly.

Matt grimaced, brushing a feather-light hand over the ugly purple bruise marring Mello's right cheek. "I really am sorry about that," he apologised yet again.

Mello berated himself internally. He hadn't meant to make Matt feel guilty all over again. "It's fine," he assured his friend, "It was my fault in the first place for not telling you...that." He neatly avoided the subject of his semi-suicide.

Matt's face made it obvious to see he didn't buy it.

Mello quickly changed the subject. "You're up early," he said, "It's only half eight."

"Yeah, I had a nightmare, so I woke up earlier than normal and couldn't be bothered to get back to sleep," Matt explained.

Mello snorted. So like Matt. "What was the nightmare about?" he asked, curious.

Matt rolled his eyes. "It was daft, now I think about it. Something about that shinigami, apples and Near crying. Really creepy..."

Mello's eyelid twitched at the mental images. "I wish I hadn't asked," he said.

Matt laughed, plonking himself down next to his best friend. "So," he started, "yesterday you were talking about going swimming or something. Want to do that today?"

Mello stared at him. "But you hate going outside," he reminded Matt.

"I figured I should get over that now that there's no one to monitor," Matt explained.

Mello shook his head. "I don't want to force you to do something you don't enjoy. I'm not ridiculously keen on going swimming anyway."

Matt waved off his excuses. "Oh, come on, Mels! We don't have to go to the pool; the park'll be fine."

Mello considered briefly before reluctantly conceding. "If you're sure..."

* * *

Matt squinted in the bright daylight, pulling his goggles down to cover his eyes. "Ah, that's better." He glanced at Mello, who didn't seem to be having any problem with the sun at all. "I don't know how you survive."

"You vampire," Mello commented, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking down the park path to the kiosk, in front of which were a couple of tables and chairs. "Come on, let's sit down."

Matt followed, looking around. "Not many people here," he noted, fairly surprised. In films, they always showed parks as animated, bustling places filled with happy couples and screaming children.

"That's 'cause it's only nine in the morning," Mello told him, "Come two, it'll be jam-packed."

"Okay." Matt took his word for it.

The two sat at a table for two in the shade.

"You sure we won't get served here?" Matt asked, checking around for a waiter.

Mello chuckled. "Don't be daft, there's hardly ever anyone in the kiosk, let alone one willing to come out and take orders."

Matt nodded, reassured. "So is this where you went when you had to 'stretch your legs' during the case?" he asked.

Mello shrugged. "Sometimes. Normally I'd just wander around town for a bit, though."

Matt smiled crookedly. "I can't imagine you wandering. You always have a purpose," he told the blond.

"I did manage to end up at the chocolate store every time, granted." Mello laughed with his friend.

It was so pleasant to be out with Matt like this, with the sun glinting off his burgundy hair and illuminating the almost invisible smattering of freckles across his nose.

Mello didn't notice he was staring until Matt snapped his fingers in front of his face. Mello jolted to life, flushing lightly as he realised why Matt was looking at him like that, curious and cheeky, with one eyebrow raised.

"What'cha staring at, Mels?" Matt asked teasingly, smirking.

"You," Mello answered before he could catch himself. He blushed even deeper.

Matt laughed. "Well duh," he said, "Why?"

Mello quickly formulated an answer that couldn't possibly be taken the wrong way. "I was wondering where the hell you got those goggles from. I haven't seen anything like them anywhere."

Matt tilted his head to the side, still smiling slightly. "Oh, right. My brother gave me them when I was little," he told Mello, tapping his left lens.

Mello nodded silently, deciding not to take the subject any further. He knew Matt didn't really like talking about his late family.

"So now I've told you about my goggles, can you tell me about your rosary?" Matt asked.

Mello made a non-committal noise. "That story isn't half as interesting as yours. I got it from church when I was three. That's the first memory I have, actually." he smiled, reminiscing.

"Who gave it to you?" Matt pushed.

Mello shrugged. "Some priest. I dunno. It's not a very special one or anything, I just like it."

Matt reached over the table and picked up the crucifix from where it lay against Mello's chest. He pulled on it lightly, causing Mello to lean towards him over the table.

"Yeah, it's pretty," he said, examining how the light reflected off the cross glinted a subtle red. "Suits you."

Mello averted his eyes. "Thanks," he mumbled, not really sure of what else to say.

Matt frowned. "Y'know Mels, I might be over-thinking things a bit, but you've been acting kinda weird lately."

Mello froze. Crap. Had Matt caught on to his very non-friendly feelings?

"Nah, it's probably the whole resurrection thing. Truth be told, I've been feeling slightly out-of-sorts recently too," Matt backtracked by himself, not noticing Mello's rigid posture relax.

"Yeah," Mello agreed, "It's a bit odd, being sure of the existence of Heaven and Hell and then being brought back to life by some lazy-ass freaks in the afterlife instead."

"Too true," Matt laughed. "Hey, you wanna go check out that paddling pool thing? It's bloody massive."

"Sure, but I'm not going in."

"Suit yourself!"

* * *

Towelling dry his hair, Matt waked into his bedroom where Mello already was, lying flat on Matt's bed, reading a book.

Shaking his head, Matt dropped the towel and picked up his PSP. "Yeah, sure Mels, you can monopolise my bed, no problem, thanks for asking."

Mello didn't look away from the novel. "Think of it as revenge for you splashing me at the paddling pool."

"You already got your revenge!" Matt protested. "You dunked my head in it!"

Mello snickered at the memory. "True. Okay then, think of it as revenge for using _my_ towel and dropping it on the floor afterwards, no less."

"Fine, fine." Matt switched on his game and started pressing buttons at high speed.

Mello embraced the comfortable silence, immersing himself once more in Luke Rhinehart's _The Dice Man_.

Over an hour later, Mello finished the book, and reached to grab the bar of chocolate he'd placed earlier on Matt's bedside table. He unwrapped the bar and took a large bite out of it, relishing the sharp _snap_.

The noise caused Matt to look up from his game (he wasn't wearing headphones, for once). When he saw Mello munching on his sixth bar of chocolate that day, he sighed fondly, pausing Mario Kart. "I swear, Mello, you eat so much chocolate, you'll probably turn into a bar yourself one of these days!"

Mello smirked. "Great! That way I'd be able to eat myself if there was a cocoa famine," he enthused, breaking off another mouthful.

Placing his PSP down, Matt climbed on the bed and crawled over to where Mello lay. The blond sat up quickly, not liking having to look up to see his friend.

Leaning closer, Matt brought his nose to Mello's neck and inhaled deeply. Mello dropped his chocolate.

"Yup, you even smell of chocolate," Matt announced, pulling away. "Though that's probably the gay-ass shampoo you use..."

Mello didn't hear him. His hands were clenched into fists and his teeth were gritted, trying to maintain his tenuous hold on his self-control.

"Mello?" Matt asked, concerned. "What's wrong?" He pushed a strand of blond hair away from his friend's face.

Mello completely lost control.

Flinging his arms around Matt's neck, Mello crushed his lips against the redhead's, impatiently ripping off his goggles when they got in the way.

Matt gasped, stunned, and fisted his hands in Mello's hair, appearing to deliberate between pushing the blond away or pulling him even closer. Mello didn't give him a choice, grabbing the back of Matt's head and tugging it harshly down, allowing the blond to abuse his lips with that much more ease.

Matt floundered, only semi-responsive, while his hands dropped Mello's hair and waved around, not knowing what to do with themselves. Eventually, though, they managed to secure a grip on Mello's shoulders and force him roughly away.

They gasped for breath for a while, Matt getting steadily redder and redder, while Mello hunched in on himself in shame.

"Mello, what the _hell_ was that?" Matt demanded, his face crimson.

Mello shied away, ducking his head and stuttering apologies. "I'm so sorry, Matt, I tried to– Matt, don't, I..._please_, I can't go on like this, I– I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, forgive me, I've ruined everything!"

"Mello, Mello," Matt shushed him, calming down and patting Mello's shoulder, "You're not making sense. Why did you kiss me?"

"Well why do _you_ think?!" Mello yelled, hysterical. "Why do you _think_ I've been acting so weird for the past few weeks?! Why would _anyone_ kiss _anything_?!"

Matt hesitated. "You...love me...as more than a friend?" He asked the obvious.

"_Of course I do_!" Mello screamed, frustrated and grief-stricken. "You don't have to return the feelings, though, I won't do anything like that again, I promise! We can go back to how it was before and you can forget it, just don't let me have ruined everything between us, please Matt, I couldn't live without you!" he burbled, tears springing to his eyes.

"I couldn't live without you either, Mels, you're being ridiculous," Matt told him, patting his head. "You haven't ruined anything. I was just shocked. Really, really shocked."

Mello looked at him, confused.

"I thought for sure you weren't interested in me," Matt admitted, blushing lightly. "I did all those things, I hugged you, I told you I loved you..."

"As a _friend_," Mello reminded him.

"Well, yeah. I chickened out a bit at first. But you didn't really act as if you wanted me like...well, you know..._that_, when I did those things, and I guess I just assumed that meant you were fine with us the way we were."

"I thought _you_ were fine with us the way we were!" Mello accused.

Matt shook his head, mortified. "Uh...no. I've kind of wanted you since we were fourteen, Mello."

Mello stared at him. "Fourteen? And you've waited _this_ long to tell me?!"

Matt looked down at his knees. "Sorry," he apologised.

Mello just pulled him down for another kiss.

This time, Matt responded eagerly, wrapping his arms firmly around Mello's waist and kissing him back so hard their teeth clashed together. Mello thrust his tongue into Matt's open mouth, intertwining it with the other youth's own.

Matt groaned loudly, "God, you even _taste_ of chocolate!" he declared, forcing Mello onto his back and kissing him with renewed vigour, knees clamping down on the blond's waist. Mello wrapped his arms around Matt's middle, pulling him down onto his own body and rolling them so their positions were reversed.

_I can't believe I unnecessarily waited four years for this_, Mello thought to himself.

Matt didn't seem to like the idea of Mello being on top, and flipped them again, resulting in them crash-landing on the floor, Matt accidentally driving his knee into Mello's crotch.

While Mello curled up, cursing in pain, and Matt begged pardon profusely, all chemistry previously permeating the air dissipated. After Mello decided the pain had lessened enough that he could straighten out again, he scowled at Matt. "Way to put a damper on things, Jeevas," he snapped, only half-joking.

"Sorry," Matt said again, looking timid. He bit his lip. "Can we try again?"

Mello rolled his eyes. "Of course. But maybe not so mobile this time, okay?"

_Finis._

* * *

**A/N: YAY, THEY BOTH FINALLY GOT A CLUE! *celebrates*  
**

**So, as I said, I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter, but I just read it through, and it's not quite as bad as I remember. Maybe the Fanfic Fairies helped me out! XD  
**

**I really, really, really want to hear what you think of this chapter, and the story as whole! Please review! I can't blackmail you with offers of early updates anymore, but be nice to me anyway...?  
**

**I love all of you readers! You're amazing!  
**

**~tii-chan17 *peaces out*  
**


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